‘I want to feel optimism’: Tory Burch hopes her latest collection sparks joy

In 2019, Tory Burch stepped down as CEO of her eponymous fashion empire to concentrate ‘nearly 100 per cent’ on design (her replacement was husband and former LVMH executive Pierre-Yves Roussel). It would prove a turning point: the past five years have seen the Pennsylvania-born designer enter a fertile period of creativity, presenting collections which inject the components of a classic American wardrobe with a satisfying strangeness, often achieved through experimentation with fabric and form.

Yesterday evening (15 September 2025), as part of New York Fashion Week S/S 2026, Burch chose the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighbourhood as the backdrop for her latest collection, a vast former bank and art deco landmark. Watched by a coterie of high-profile well-wishers – among them Naomi Watts, Jessica Alba and Tessa Thompson – Burch continued this free-wheeling approach with a collection that explored the idea of a well-loved item of clothing, presenting garments that were purposely creased, frayed at the edges or marked with the scuffs of wear.

Backstage after the show, she said that such apparent ‘imperfections’ were actually meticulously constructed – the disintegrated sleeve of a cardigan was designed to ‘stay intact’, while the frayed edge of a dress was actually an illusion crafted from delicate thread-like strings of beads. ‘I wanted something familiar and worn, but uber-chic and elevated,’ she elaborated, noting that her collections begin by experimenting with fabric rather than sketching garments (this season, colour was another starting point, with zingy shades of yellow, pink and blue running throughout). ‘We spend a lot of time figuring out how to do things,’ she says.

Silhouettes were largely ladylike, though interrogated with the designer’s newfound eye for subversion and play (Burch often talks about drilling down on a singular, familiar idea, until it becomes something else entirely). Lightweight knit cardigans and polo sweaters came with folds at the collar held in place with a metal brooch (they can also be used to slot a necklace through), while pleated skirts were dropped at the waistline – a shape which continued with a series of drop-waist flapper gowns presented at the end of the show. ‘I just kept playing with the proportion – I wanted really to celebrate the body,’ she says.

Embellishment, meanwhile, was richer than in recent seasons: pointed pumps were adorned with delicate threads of pearl and embroidery, or metal ‘barbed wire’ as a tougher counterpoint (Burch said she had been wanting to use a barbed-wire motif for some time, though this was the first season she felt the prototypes actually worked). Dresses and tops were adorned with a series of monogram embroidery (each initial represented a person on her design team), while art deco beading was stitched onto mesh, for it to be ‘super light and not cumbersome’. Jewellery was also prominent: ‘I wanted a more is more approach,’ she said, with strings of beads and shells meeting twisted chokers evocative of more barbed wire.

Together, it captured the satisfying eclecticism that now defines the label – a liberated approach that Burch said hopes sparks joy for the wearer. ‘With this dark time we are all experiencing I wanted to feel joy in optimism, but also with a realness to things,’ she says. ‘I think with each season it’s more of a dialogue, we’re learning more about what women are craving and what they want. So hopefully these pieces have longevity, where people take them and make them their own. That’s the best thing about out collections – I love seeing people make it theirs.’

toryburch.com

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